Tablet Weaving Results

[Pandabean]

After a great workshop at the moot by Cyclingrelf, I got home and wanted to try more of the tablet weaving. The first one didnt turn out great but I thought black and light grey would be good but I think the cotton was too thin.

Anyways tried again for the third time being tied to a chair for an evening, isnt so bad as being tied up to a tree in the naughty corner though

The one on the right is the one from the moot, trying various patterns and the one on the right is the one I made this evening. Amazing what you can do whilst watching Torchwood.
Kept the pattern the same throughout this time rather than different ones like the first.

Front:


IMG_9685 by pandabean2010, on Flickr

Reverse:

IMG_9686 by pandabean2010, on Flickr

 

[udamiano]

cool! nice job there matey

 

[Seoras]

Nice one. I really enjoyed Susannahs class as well.

 

[Ed]

Fantastic bit of work there

Ed

 

[CBJ]

Nice one mate, its looking good,

youll have to impart your knowledge and show me that at the meet,

atb

Craig

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Thanks for posting those, they look great! I'm impressed with the length of weave you managed in one evening.

Did you keep the pattern on the left symmetrical by counting rows or by checking the position of threads in the cards?

Anyways, nice work

 

[Pandabean]

I started cutting and threading about 6pm and finished about half way through torchwood, so about 9.30, with dinner in between. Its quite quick once if you have a simple pattern and once you get into the swing of things.
I did manage to get the Loomy Bin Java applet working and played with the pattern on there first. Basically It was setting up the cards properly in S & Z threading, with the centre 2 opposite to what they were supposed to and went forward for 4 (or 5) and then back the same and repeated all the way to the end.

Yeh Craig, I may get one set up and ready to go for the meet and show you what is done, but I am no expert.


Does anyone else want to show their results from the moot?

 

[v-ness]

I'm impressed Andy!

I've made 2 since the session with Suzannah and my daughter has disappeared with both

I love the way you can make different patterns so easily just by turning one or two cards.

Thanks for the tutorial Suzannah

Ness

 

[R.Lewis]

Nice. If I show this to SWMBO she will be so gutted she missed the workshop, she now really wants to do this for a project we are working on!

 

[Cyclingrelf]

I've made 2 since the session with Suzannah and my daughter has disappeared with both

I love the way you can make different patterns so easily just by turning one or two cards.

Great they are appreciated! And I'm glad you all seem to have got the hang of it so well

R.Lewis - I'll maybe run the workshop again another year if there's interest.

<<Edit>> I've put the handouts I made online in case anyone finds them useful.
Brief instructions on how to get started
https://docs.google.com/document/d/185rgUycLom7kyYGvw49KXJtdN-KJyORs_p_PRw3GUqU/edit?hl=en_US

Ramshorn design
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QqsJ3DZQEPqxh1_xzcFIMNSA2zaBCD52tXCiKdECI0c/edit?hl=en_US

A diagram showing the workings of double-faced weave
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingrelf/6053410569/

<<another edit>>
By the way, if any of you wants tablets, woods_man makes them in laminated plastic, which is hard-wearing, has smooth edges and keeps its stiffness whilst still being very thin. He sells them at £10 for a pack of 12. These are the ones I used on my course.

 

[Eric_Methven]

I so regret not doing this course at the moot. I'll just have to muddle along on my own now and see what I can produce. The link to the Loomy Bin was very useful too. I remembered you told me about that website when we were sipping tea at my camp, but I forgot the name of it until I opened your Google Doc.


Eric

 

[Toddy]

Neatly done all round

Another vote for Peter's tablets, they're excellent to use.
They won't do for in-period displays, (ask Eric for those) but they're the ones I use at home when I just need to weave braid for costumes.
I generally weave 5.5 metres of each braid, and these tablets that don't wear quickly or ever snag.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Tjurved]

I did that some years ago. Perhaps I should start over this winter if I find the inspiration. It is a quite time consuming hobby .

 

[jungle_re]

Awesome work guys well impressed. Bought a nice little instruction book when i was last in sweden but havnt had the chance to give it ago yet

 

[Pandabean]

Just made another one but the colours were too similar, white and a really light blue, but the pattern on it would have been good if it was darker.

Is there somewhere out there that can give you an idea of what colours would go great with another?

Tjurved - That looks really nice and really long, how long does it take you to finish one of those?

 

[Toddy]

Lots of artist's sites, with information on tonal values.

Simplest way I know though it to take the colours you're considering and just wrap them together. If they 'dance', it'll work

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Good luck Eric, glad you found the Loomy Bin helpful. Tjurved - that's a lovely pattern in your picture, thanks for sharing.

I can't add anything about choosing colours - thanks Mary for your input on this. Good question!

 

[Tjurved]

I dont know but it took ages!

 

[Toddy]

Once the warping up is done we estimate a metre an hour to work the band.
That's straight forward OXOX or <<<<o>>>><<<<o>>>> type bands however, and our warps are fixed onto inkle looms so that we can pick them up and put them down quickly. The tension is better if the length can be worked in one pass though.
For costume work sometimes a softer braid is a better trim simply because it curves around necklines and suchlike more smoothly. Not so soft that it snags, just enough to have a little give and they don't need to be double faced.
Belts and straps are better firm and hard woven and reversable.

For designs where the pack is turned in sections and reversed against the rest, skilled weavers don't take all that much longer (Andy'd be the one to ask about this (Humblebumble) ) but the price is doubled simply because of the time to warp, the focus needed, and generally it's a sit down and work until the warp length is finished, weaving.
These weavings are either pure wool, silk or linen, and they all work differently in the tensioning. The actual spin and ply of the yarn has much to do with that, with modern machine spun wools stretching in a way that good worsted spun doesn't.
For lettering and patterning within the band, the price depends on the intricacy and how skillfully the weaver can manipulate cards and keep tensioning and design edges good. There's some stunningly good ecclesiastical work done

Incidentally, the Ashford inkle looms aren't strong enough to take the pull of a tight warp Fine for soft cottons but that's about it. There are drum type table top looms available though, especially from reenactor suppliers.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Pandabean]

The colours looked nice in my head at the time , and looked like they may work when tried but ended up looking fine with the right light, under plain light it looked a bit featureless.

Trying to get a nice blue and white to give a cold icey look, but the blue was too light.

Lots of artist's sites, with information on tonal values.

Simplest way I know though it to take the colours you're considering and just wrap them together. If they 'dance', it'll work

cheers,
Toddy